ANZA Cricket: Meet the bats behind our players!

From left: Guy & Tariq with their Black Widow bats.

Some people collect watches. Others, cars. Every cricketer, though, has their bat, and the willow a player chooses says a lot about them.

Bats in the making in Cape Town

South Africa has produced many fine cricketers, and one of its home-grown marks of excellence is the Black Widow, the bat brand favoured by players including South African cricket coach and former professional cricketer Jacques Kallis, custom-made out of the backyard of a suburban Cape Town home. ANZA’s cricketers Guy Hudson and Taariq Janodien have their very own Widows.

Left: Mitch & ANZA Cricket’s Graeme. Right: Mitch showcases some handiwork

The willow known as Rams Head is just as popualar. This type of bat comes from a sheep farm on the outskirts of Guyra in the NSW tablelands, where farmer and bat-maker Mitch Woods hand-crafts each one in a blacksmith’s shed over 100 years old. Want to test yours before it leaves? Mitch sets up a bowling machine in his very own shearing shed. He also donates a portion of every sale to the Australian Cancer Society making each bat a labour of love, not profit. If you’ve ever wanted a reasonably priced, top quality, custom made bat, order via Facebook @ramsheadbats

From Left: Redddi Kothq & Chris, Collins & Gavin Parker and Sam Sebesan

No matter what the make, in cricket, the bat is the beginning of a love story. ANZA Cricket’s Reddi Kothq doesn’t like to take sides and is pictured above with his son Jai, an aspiring fast bowler, and with arms around both boy and bat equally. Bushies openers Chris Collins and Gavin Parker are at ease with theirs. Sam Sebesan, meanwhile, has the walk to the middle sorted – bat firmly gripped, ready to go.

Whatever bat you play with, what matters is how you care for it. Some ANZA cricketers take that seriously (join up to find out who!) and have given over an entire rental room to theirs. In Singapore, at current rents, that’s a considerable declaration of love. Ultimately, the proof is in the playing and nobody demonstrated that better recently than openers Dheer Bhatnager, who made 89, and Haroon Mufti, who made 97, putting on a 199 partnership in a recent BPL T25 match. Well done bats, you make the ANZA players look good!

Left: Dedicated rental room!. Right: Dheer & Haroon

2026 season now well underway!

Check out the ANZA website at anza.org.sg for details on our 2025 – 2026 cricket season. Whether you’re a seasoned player or just starting out, there’s plenty of cricket on offer and available to all. We hold weekly NETs sessions at The Cage Dempsey, making it a great way to ease back into the game and enjoy the social perks that come with it. It’s very relaxed and welcoming, so even if you haven’t picked up a bat in years, you’ll fit right in. Email [email protected]

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